Nonskid emergency shoe for motor vehicle wheels



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E. TOWER NONSKID EMERGENCY SHOE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE WHEELS July 4, 1950 Filed May 4, 1948 llt IN V EN TOR. .EMER Y 72a WER.

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July 4, 1950 E. TOWER 2,513,691

NONSKID EMERGENCY SHOE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE WHEELS Filed May 4, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 4, 1950 f NONSKIDEMERGENCY SHEFK f VEHICLE WHEELS'.

Morcin Emery Tower, y

Y 'Application May 4, 1948', S'enalNeraZSLiT/I 'il 5Claims. (crisis-4.1 ijf,

This invention relates to motor vehicles, and more particularly to safety apparatus `designed to stop undesired rolling on hills as well as skid.-

ding. y

Many s erious accidents are caused by the inability of the. drivers of motor vehicles, particularly' trucks, to stop their vehicles after they start to'skid. Also, it is diflicultto start a heavy truck up a hill on :which itl has stopped, especially if the pavement is wet or icy. When-the dri'ver takes his foot from the brake.,` thetruck generally will start to drift 4baclsbefore enough power can be applied to the wheels vto move it forward; If the pavement is slippery, thef truck also will start to skid and may refuse togo forward. When the truck is parkedfon a grade, .there always is the danger that it will roll away unless the wheels are blocked. A y

It is among the objects of this inventionto provide safety apparatus of' simple and durable construction which can be-readily appliedl to motor vehicles and-which can:y be .usedE in. emerfgencies to stop skidding, to. vaid the vehicle in'4 starting-up a hill from ai standstill,` andtoblock the wheels when parked. v

In accordance with this.. invention` al pair. of non-skid shoes a-re provided,'feach ofV which is adapted to support a Wheeli orset of dual wheels of a motor vehicle. upper ends pivotally connected-to the. vehicle, are connected.' at their; lower endsto the` shoes so that the shoes-normallycanbe swung lengthwise. of the vehicle and upward .to an inoperative.

position. When-used with dual.v wheels, each: arm can swing between a'pair of: wheels. Preferably,

the lower ends. of the! arms.vl are, pivotally tion-` nected tov one end. of theshoeskand. means are provided for supporting the opposite'end.y oithe. shoes from the arms so thatthevshoeswill not swing too far down away-from the arms;y .The shoes .are held in. their inoperativel positiony by latching means `which can; be trippedauby the. driver to release the shoes-softhat they will swing down to the ground vclose-te theiwheels. w Ifthe wheels then rolltcward the` shoes they will. roll onto them and cometorestp becausev means. are

provided: for limiting the distancezthatthe,l wheels cany roll4 across the shoes'. Such1 means ,preferably take` the form of chainsconnectedz tothe shoes and to the. vehicle at the side of thefwheels where the inoperative position; ofthe .shoes is located'. Theser chains may be fastened to. af cross beam mounted on. the. vehicle., This. beampalso sup-*f ports the shoe latcliing.Y means which ymay :in-f

Arms,- which have their cludea rotatable horizontal. shatythatisadaptei. 55

when. turned, to w.i-thdraw.V horizontal pinsvr from holes in. the upper. ends orthoy suspende,d-.shoesz which normally are hung from these-pins.: The: shaft can be'1 turned; when desired, by means of anelectriamotos controlled-.by the driver oi the vehiclej.. The inoperative or suspended position.' of the shoes maybe;locatedeitherin front of the wheelsor inf-'back ofthem,i depending on whether it isiorward. or. backward-.movement of the vehicleythatis to; guaruledagainst.l If. desii ,.hoes-niay ybedwang.Y both positions so tli.. ,the. vehicle'. canovbwe stoE pedf. from. moving either forward4 or. backward man. emergency.

The preferred. embodiment. of. the inventionis. illustrated in the. ac.companyingL drawings, inA which. la isfay rear View. off a. truck: with the. safety shoes hanging in. inoperativev position; lig...2` isaVv fragmentary rear view ot Athe/ftruck. showingfthe. shoes in. operative position; Fig- 3 isapfragrnentary; side. view of the rear end of the truolswitnone. of. the dual wheels;removed.` and.. sho-wing a safetyI shoe engaging the ground behind'.theiother/wheel; Eiga4 isa/view similar to Eig; 3,., but. with the wheel-L rolled,A back on the, shoe;` Eig. is anfenlarged detail taken on the lineV-Y of Eig". 1f; and Fig.6 is,v a view similar to Figa. 4,., showing the; shoesy operating from in, front-'of thefwheels.

, .Referringtofthe rstfour iigfures lonf .the drawings, a pair of wheels l and? are'mounted on each-endof the lrear axle 3. of; a truck, and an inverted Lshaped bracket 4 isA rigidly connected: at. its lower endin any suitablemanner to the axle near each inner-wheel-l. The vupper part of each bracket extends outward. yacross the adjacent inner wheel andthrough the looped upper end. of an; arm -6 that is suspended from the bracket` so that it` can swing between. the dual wheels. When. the arm. is in its lower or most forward position, .as shown.- in Fig. 4- ywhere rollingA backV is bei-ng prevented, it curves rearwardly around the axle between the two wheels. and then extendsin front of the axle. In this'embodiment of the invention the lower end of each armis:A pivotally connected at l tothe front central' portion'ofa non-skid shoe .8 which is formed from` a metal'channel' 9 havinglugs lll welded to its.. bottom rfor gripping the ground or roady bed. Each shoe is lWide enough to accommodate on its ,upperY surface a pair of thev dual wheels. Ofzcourse, if dual wheels are not used,-the shoes are made correspondingly narrower.

When the shoes are not in use they are hung from a lhorizontal. cross beam H, preferably an anglepbanrigidly mounted on the truckirame shown) in the cab of the truck.

I2 behind the wheels. In their inoperative position, shown in Fig. 1, the shoes serve as shields or guards behind the wheels to intercept stones.

and the like that are thrown back by the Wheels. For suspending the shoes from the beam, as best shown in Fig. 5, there are a pair of substantially horizontal pins I3 projecting forward from holes I4 in the bottom of the vertical ilange` of the beam. These pins also extend through holes I6 in ears I1 attached to the rear ends of the shoes, so that the shoes are hung from the pins.

rear ends of the pins are pivotally connected to" the lower ends of short arms I 8L extending down from a horizontal shaft I9 on which theirupper f ends are rigidly mounted. The shaft extends. along beam II and is journaled in bearing members 2'I projecting up from the horizontal flangev`v 1 of the beam. Rigidly connected to the centrali` portion of the shaft is a rearwardly and down' wardly extending lever 22 by which the shaft can `be' turned to cause its arms'I8 towithdraw This lever is swung back to turn the shaft by means offa 'crank 23 that is rotated by an electric motor 24 clamped to the bottomofthe cross beam. The l mbtoris controlled by an lelectricswitchl (not the `pins fromv the holes inthe shoe ears.

"Wh'en'f the shoes are released, theyv'dr-op by gravity and are'simultaneously swung forwardl l by=larms v`-6 until they -strke the pavement vor l road directly behind the Wheels as shown in Fig. 3. To keep the back of the shoes from swinging downto'o far around their pivots 1, the rear ends of4 thev shoes are connected by short chains 26 to the curved part of the arms' above them. The

` distance that the -wheels can roll back across the shoes isldetermined and controlled by tension membersV or chains 21 connected to the rear ends of the shoe `flanges. Thesechainsextend rear-y -ward and upward to the cross beam where their upperv ends are connected to eye bolts 28 extendingslidably through holes in the'lower ange of the beam. Abovethat flange coil springs 30 that l encircle Ythe bolts are compressed between the beam and nuts 3'I on the upper ends of the lbolts.

It -wi1l`benoted that the if 4the truck?I is lparked heading upa hill, the shoes can be dropped behind the wheels and the truck 'allowed to drift back until the wheels are on the shoes as shown in Fig.' 4." The shoes then'v will' prevent any further' backward movement ofthe truck, even when the brakes arereleased preparatory to starting up the hill again. In case the truck is stopped only momentarily on'the hill; `o`r the engine is stalled, the shoes can be dropped behind the wheels where they will limit the distance that the truck can drift back while the driver is trying to get itto "n1ove\forv ward again. If the road is slippery and the wheels start to skid so that the truck begins to slide back, or backwards and tothe side, -the wheels can be allowed to roll back onto the shoes which will stop the skid and furnish a firm foot-V ing so that vthe truck can get started' forward again. 1';

The non-skid shoes 8 can be usedlin conjunction4 with. asimilarlpair-l of shoes f in frontbf the 75r There v- 4 wheels, or the latter shoes can be used alone when only forward movement of the vehicle is to be stopped. Thus, as shown in Fig. 6, the entire safety apparatus described above can be turned around and mounted in front of the'wheels. The parts of this apparatus in Fig. 6 bear the same designation numbers as before, except that the letter` @has been added. Therefore, theconstruction ofthe apparatus need not be described again, except to mention 'a spring `35 that connects shaft lever 22a to cross beam IIa so that the lever is always urged toward the beam. This spring, c which also canbe used with the rst embodiment or thefinvention, insures that shoe-supporting pins |30, will not work back out of operative position and accidentally release the shoes.

j Shoes 8a canbe used to block forward movement ofthe vehicle when parked on a down grade. 'I'hey also can be dropped in front of the wheels to stop the vehicle from skidding ahead or forward and to'theffside. In emergencies they can be vused to stop-the vehicle morequickly than itv can be stopped'byritsbrakes,becausethe wheels will run up olf the road onto the shoes.

Thei4 'end of ythe'sh'oe to-vvhi'ch 4-theI-supporting arm is pivoted is theend-which'strikes the'ground first when thesh'oe'i's'dropp'ed; and therefore is referredy to herein ast'he leading endwl The oppositeendof the shoe is referredto herein asthe trailihg.end.'i;.,f .1i-i.: w l.; "if v l vAccording to "thef-provisionsw'of the `patent statutes, I have Yexplained `the .principle of my invention and have `Iillustrated and described what Ivnowfconsid'er to represent vits best embodiment. However, Ifdesireto have it understood that, within the scopef-of-vthe appended claims, the invention mayrbepractice'd otherwise than as specifically illustrated andndescribed.

I claim: 'L a'. v i.

1. Safety apparatus for motorvehicles having dualrear wheels, comprisingfalpair ofnon-skid shoes each adapted ,tofsupporton top of itself ai pair` pfsaid; wheels; an aarm" movable between each pair of wheelsrandconnected atl its lower` end to the leading endbfI the; underlying shoe, means adapted to connect the-upper ends of the arms tothe vehicle :above its rear axle so that the shoescan'be swung lengthwise ofy the vehicle and `upwardto inoperative position# when free of the'wheels, 'said arms being curvedto extend part Way around the Yaxle,-1atching means for connection to the trailing endsof the shoes to hold them in said inoperative. position, manually controlled means for tripping the latching means toreleasethe shoes so =that^theyxwill swing down to the'ground close to'said wheels, and means for limiting thedistancethat `said Wheels-'can roll acrossl the shoes;

`2. Safety appa'ratusfor motor vehicles, comprising a pair'o'f non-skid 'shoesadapted to sup- 'port on top of themselvesfwheels of a motor-vehicle, arms connected at their vlower ends to the leading'ends lof the 'shoes, means adapted to pivotally'?v connect'the" upper en'dsof the arms vto the vehicle above'the axle of said wheelsI so that the shoes can befswunglengthwise'of.the vehicle and upward to inoperative position when freev of the wheels, l'said 'arms-fbeing'curved to extend part Way.`around the axle, al; cross beam adapted tobe" mounted on the vehiclfat the Isideof the'wheels adjacentv said yinoperative position, latching means mounted onfsaid beam for-'connection to the trailing Aends-ofthe`7shoes to hold them in said *inoperative position; @manually controlled means for tripping the latching means toi release the shoes so that they will swing down to the ground close to said wheels, tension members connected at one end to the trailing ends of the shoes, and means connecting the opposite ends of said members to said beam to limit the `distance that said wheels can roll across the shoes toward said beam.

3. Safety apparatus for motor vehicles, comprising a pair of non-skid shoes adapted to support on top of themselves wheels of a motor vehicle, arms connected at their lower ends to the shoes, means adapted to pivotally connect the upper ends of the arms to the vehicle so that the shoes can be swung lengthwise of the vehicle and upward to inoperative position when free of the wheels, a cross beam adapted to be mounted on the vehicle at the side of the wheels adjacent said inoperative position, a horizontal shaft pivotally mounted on said beam, latching members carried by the shaft for releasably engaging the shoes to hold them in said inoperative position, an electric motor for turning the shaft to release said latching members from the shoes so that the shoes will swing down to the ground close to said wheels, and means for limiting the distance that said wheels can roll across the shoes toward said beam.

4. Safety apparatus for motor vehicles, comprising a pair of non-skid shoes adapted to support on top of themselves wheels of a motor vehicle, arms connected at their lower ends to the shoes, means adapted to pivotally connect the upper ends of the arms to the vehicle so that the shoes can be swung lengthwise of the vehicle and upward to inoperative position when free of the Wheels, a cross beam adapted to be mounted on the vehicle at the side of the Wheels adjacent said inoperative position, a horizontal shaft pivotally mounted on said beam, latching members carried by the shaft for releasably engaging the shoes to hold them in said inoperative position, a lever projecting from sai-d shaft, an electric motor, a crank driven by the motor for swinging said lever to turn the shaft so that said latching members will release the shoes and permit them to swing down to the ground close to said wheels, and chains connected to the shoes and to said beam to limit the distance that said wheels can roll across the shoes toward said beam.

5. Safety apparatus for motor vehicles, comprising a pair of non-skid shoes adapted to support on top of themselves wheels of a motor ve-- hicle, one end of the shoes being provided with holes, arms connected at their lower ends to the shoes, means adapted to pivotally connect the upper ends of the arms to the vehicle so that the shoes can be swung lengthwise of the vehicle and upward to inoperative position when free of the wheels, a cross beam adapted to be mounted on the vehicle at the side of the wheels adjacent said inoperative position, a horizontal shaft pivotally mounted on said beam, substantially horizontal pins extending slidably through the beam and operatively connected to the shaft, the free ends of the pins being adapted to extend through said shoe holes to support the shoes in said inoperative position, manually controlled means for turning the shaft to Withdraw the pins from the shoe holes so that the shoes can swing down to the ground close to said wheels, tension members connected at one end to the shoes, and means adapted to anchor the opposite end of said members to said beam to limit the distance that said wheels can roll across the shoes toward said beam.

EMERY TOWER..

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS' Number Name Date 1,118,233 Rnyik Nov. 24, 1914 1,130,939 Stepanka Mar. 9, 1915 1,237,108 Shiel Aug. 14, 1917 1,582,911 Eichorn May 4, 1926 2,151,014 Curtiss Mar. 21, 1939 2,174,135 Parrish Sept. 26, 1.939 2,182,044 Ackerman Dec. 5, 1939 2,344,148 Jackson Mar. 14, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 379,332 France Nov. 5, 1907 

